Page 25 of Marry in Scarlet
Towsett trotted along beside him, trying to wriggle out of Hart’s grip, while at the same time trying to hide that he was being unceremoniously marched from the room. “I say, Everingham—what the devil— Ouch! You’re hurting me. What the—? Where are you taking—? Ow!”
Hart took no notice. He wasn’t quite sure what he was doing; all he knew was that he was furiously angry. He marched the man through a series of hallways andanterooms until he found an empty room. He thrust Towsett from his grasp.
The man staggered back and tried to smooth his rumpled coat. “You’re being very mysterious, Everingham,” he joked in the way that a man did when he was nervous and didn’t want to appear so. “Not planning to murder me, are you—ha ha.”
“Not tonight.”
Towsett took a step back. “Now look here—”
“You’re leaving the ball,” Hart told him. “Immediately.”
“But I haven’t—”
Hart cut him off. “You will take leave of your hostess, explaining you have a headache.”
“But I don’t—”
Hart took a step toward him. “You will not talk to another soul. You will go straight home.”
“Now look here, Everingham, I don’t know what you’re playing at, but I don’t have any intention of—oof!” Hart shoved him back against the wall.
“I’m not finished. You will go straight home and you will write a letter.”
“A letter?”
“To Lady Georgiana Rutherford, in which you will apologize for pestering her—”
“Pestering? I have never pest—”
Hart seized him by the shirtfront and banged him against the wall, holding him just above the point where his feet could touch the floor. In a soft, savage voice he said, “In this letter you will apologize for pestering the lady. You will also withdraw your suit—unconditionally and forever. Do you understand me?”
Towsett scrabbled to escape his grip. “But Lady George—”
“Is not interested.”
“I love her.”
“Tough!” Hart banged him against the wall, harder. “For God’s sake, Towsett, how many times have you proposed to the girl?”
“Three.”
“And how many times has she refused you?” He’d wager she made it perfectly clear too. He’d only met her a handful of times, but she struck him as a girl who spoke her mind.
Towsett looked away sulkily. “Women say no when they really mean yes, everyone knows that.”
“Not everyone! Three refusals definitely means no!” Hart shook him hard. “Do. You. Understand?”
“All right, all right, there’s no need to be brutal,” Towsett muttered, trying to wriggle free.
When Hart thought of the way the girl had hidden herself in the conservatory, just to escape the attentions of this self-important little weed, he wanted to strangle the man. “Go home and write that letter. And if you bother Lady Georgiana again, you’ll have me to deal with, do you understand?” He gave the man a last shake and released him.
Towsett straightened his clothing and gave Hart an aggrieved look. “I suppose you want her for yourself.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I barely know the girl.”
“Then I don’t understand why you would—”
Hart took a menacing step forward. “Go home, Towsett. Now.”
